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The federal charges against a former Blount County Juvenile Court magistrate have been dropped following her entering a guilty plea in county criminal court.

According to court documents, Dianne Elizabeth Lashmit, 58, pleaded guilty to intentional failure to report child sexual abuse on Nov. 18. Because a plea agreement was reached in Blount County Circuit Court for the “same conduct for which she was charged,” federal prosecutors agreed to drop the pending charges of tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact.

Lashmit was sentenced to one year of probation beginning Nov. 18 and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid community service work for the Class E felony offense. She will be monitored by the Tennessee Department of Corrections until her community service is completed and all court costs paid.

If she completes her probation and community service work without further incident, Lashmit will be eligible to petition the courts to expunge her record.

Background

In an indictment filed in February the United States Eastern District of Tennessee Court, prosecutors accused Lashmit of attempting to destroy evidence in the case against her son, Julian Paul Gerdeman, and his girlfriend, Emilee Brooke Gregory.

Maryville Police and federal law enforcement first began investigating Gerdeman and Gregory after receiving tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Aug. 7, 2023, regarding uploads of sexually explicit materials involving minors coming from Lashmit’s IP address — specifically, from the detached garage where her son and his girlfriend were staying. Just over a week later, investigators executed a search warrant which reportedly uncovered over 4,000 sexually explicit images and videos involving minors on Gerdeman’s personal electronic devices stored in the garage.

Investigators were unable to arrest the two at the time, however, because Lashmit had allegedly paid for a hotel room in Knoxville for their use. It wasn’t until Aug. 21, 2023, that Gerdeman and Gregory were arrested.

During this time, Lashmit was also placed on temporary paid administrative leave by Blount County Juvenile Court Judge Kenlyn Foster. She remained on paid leave until her formal termination on Jan. 10, 2024. The reasons for the termination were reportedly discussed in a “phone conversation with Judge Foster,” according to Lashmit’s personnel record.

Charges

In March 2024, they were indicted on seven counts: Gerdeman on one count distribution of child pornography, one count possession with intent to view and two counts receipt of child pornography, and Gregory on one count receipt, one count possession with intent to view and one count accessory after the fact.

Gerdeman pleaded guilty on April 16 to all counts except distribution and was later sentenced to serve 16 months imprisonment followed by a lifetime of supervised released and required participation in several treatment programs. He was also order to pay restitution totaling $18,000 to victims identified by the court.

Gregory was found to have kept a digital journal after she reportedly found images on her boyfriend’s phone but did not report them as early as May of 2023. She pleaded guilty to one count accessory after the fact, for which she received a 2 year prison sentence in December. Afterwards, she faces 3 years on supervised release.

Editor’s Note: In different court filings, Lashmit’s first name is spelled either “Diane” or “Dianne.” The second spelling is used here to reflect the most recent filings.